Get Going with eChalk Digital File Locker


SETTING THE STAGE (To be reviewed before the session begins.)

Session Overview
In this session, participants will learn how to use the Digital File Locker to upload and download files in eChalk.

Focusing Questions
How can we manage our files using the Digital File Locker in eChalk?

Materials
The following materials are used in this session:
-Laptops
-Projector

Resources
The following resources are used in this session.

Your school’s eChalk website (i.e. http://10X118.nycdoe.org)

INSTRUCTION (Typically lasts about 20% of session.)

Framing the Session
Give participants an introduction and purpose/reason why you are teaching this session:
“We have already learned how to use eChalk email to communicate with others. Today we are going to learn how to manage our files using our eChalk Digital File locker.”

Teaching
Demonstrate for participants:
“Watch me as I log in to my account in eChalk. First I will click on the “My Account” tab on the left. Then I will click on “Files”. Now I am in my Digital File Locker.”

“We can see my files listed, including the name of the file, date and time the file was added, and the file size. We can also see how much space we have left to add more files.”

“The buttons show us our file options. We can add, save, delete or email our files.”

“Watch me as I add a file from my computer. First, I click the “add” button, and the file selection window will open. Then, I find the file I would like to upload, and I select it by clicking on the file name. Once I’ve selected the file, I click the “Choose File” button. Now I can see my file listed next to the “Choose File” button. If I click the “Upload” button, I can see it has been added to my list of files.”

“The “Save” button is used to download a file from your Digital File Locker and save it to your computer or another media storage device like a USB key. Before I click Save, I must select the file I would like to download by clicking on the box next to its’ name. Then, I click the “Save” button, and the file download window opens. We can see that I have three options for downloading my file:
1. Open in a new Web browser window by clicking on the hyperlink.
2. Open in its’ registered (original) application by clicking on the hyperlink.
3. Save to my computer by clicking on the picture of the disk or on the hyperlink.”

Remind students that a hyperlink is a way to link to a file or website. You can recognize a hyperlink because it will be underlined and is usually a different color than the rest of the words.

“I’m going to save this file to my computer by clicking on the picture of the disk. Now the file has been downloaded to my computer.”

“Sometimes we may have a file in our Digital File Locker that we no longer need. To delete, first select the file by clicking on the box to left of the file name. Now, watch as I click the delete button. eChalk will confirm that I am sure I want to delete the file just in case I have made a mistake. Now the file is not stored in my Digital File Locker.”

“If we would like to send the file to someone else, we first select the file by clicking on the box next to the file name. Then, we click “Send Email”. A new email will automatically open with our document attached. Now we can send the file as an attachment.”

Guided Practice
“Now we will practice using each of the features in our Digital File Locker together.”

Have the participants log into their eChalk account. Guide them through Adding, Saving, Deleting and sending a file.

WORK TIME (Typically lasts about 60–70% of session.)

Getting Started
Tell participants what they will be doing during their work time, and how much time they have:
“Take the next 20 minutes to try what we have just learned using the Digital File Locker, and then we will come back together and share.”

Assign the students a partner for the activity.

Participant Activity
Participants will:

1. Add at least 2 files to your digital file locker.
2. Practice sending a file in an email to your assigned partner.
3. When you receive the file from your partner, save it to your Digital File Locker.
4. Choose one file in your Digital File Locker and delete it.

Facilitator Conferring
Circulate around the room and confer with participants. Make sure that they each have files on their computer to use in the activity. You may want to have some files ready to download onto their computer if they do not have any from previous classes.

Take note of particularly good examples of work that can be presented during the Share.

SHARE (Typically lasts about 10–20% of session.)

Ask selected participants to share particularly good examples of their work.
Lead a discussion about how this work addresses the focusing questions. How can the eChalk Digital File Locker help students and teachers with their work?


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Author: Elizabeth D.
Email:
School/Employer: M.S. 118
Title: Technology Coach





TEMPLATE DESCRIPTION

Each session contains the following components and can be conducted in 45–60 minutes:

Session Overview
This is a concise summary of the session, and how it fits into the training series as a whole.

Focusing Questions
These are the specific questions that guide the session. The purpose of the session is to address these questions.

Materials
This is a list of all materials that the facilitator must make sure are present at the training site, including technology resources.

Resources
All handouts can be found linked from the Resources section of the participant agenda. Participants will be able to access these materials online during the session, but the facilitator should review them ahead of time, and any instructional support charts should be posted in the room before the session begins.

Framing the Session
The facilitator explains to the participants what will be covered in this session, how it fits into the training series as a whole, and how it may be incorporated into their reflective practice.

Teaching
This is a short period of facilitator-led instruction designed to prepare the participants for their work time. The facilitator might demonstrate a specific use of technology in an authentic curricular context, selected participants might be invited to share relevant experiences, or the group as a whole might contribute to a shared brainstorming list. The facilitator should be careful to avoid giving a lengthy lecture or straying too far from the focusing questions.

Guided Practice
Sometimes it is helpful for the facilitator to walk the participants through a process step by step. This gives the participants the hands-on experience of work time before losing the scaffolding of facilitator-led instruction.

Getting Started
The facilitator gives instructions to the participants for their work time, and lets them know what they will be expected to share at the end of the session.

Participant Activity
Participants are given time to practice the specific process they have seen demonstrated. They may be working independently, with a partner, or in small groups.

Facilitator Conferring
As participants work, the facilitator moves around the room holding short conferences to help guide the work and make it more productive. The facilitator should be at eye level with participants during each conference. These conversations need not be especially private; the facilitator may invite someone sitting nearby to listen in. If common needs among the group emerge, they can either be addressed immediately or during the sharing time.

Share
Participants gather at the end of the session to demonstrate what they have done, discuss experiences they have had, and reflect on what they have learned. This is an opportunity to return to the focusing questions that began the session, and discuss what has been accomplished in the interval.

Acknowledgements
This section acknowledges those who contributed to the creation of this session.